Bristol Save the NHS and Anti Austerity Protest March

Today I spent a few hours in Bristol at the Save The NHS and Anti Austerity Measures protest march and rally. There were a good few hundred protestors from various groups including The Radical Bloc, Save The NHS, many of the Trades Unions and other supporters. It was quite a loud march but peaceful and good natured and included The Radical Bloc Group stopping outside of Primark to protest and show their solidarity with the Bangladesh workers who ae suffering quite a lot at the moment, well probably all the time to be honest!!

This is just a small selection of all of my images which if anybody is interested more can be found at http://www.DEMOTIX.com or
please feel free to contact me directly.

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Workers Memorial Day Service at Bristol Cathedral

Dave Smith

Dave Smith

Dave Smith

Michelle Stanistreet

Michelle Stanistreet

Julie Verne

Cannon Tim Higgins

Nigel Cotley

Sally Challoner

Farzana Saker

Workers Memorial Day

Workers Memorial Day

Yesterday 28th April was Workers Memorial Day, where people who have either died or been injured in work related accidents or circumstances are remembered. The South West commemorated the day by holding a service at Bristol Cathedral followed by the laying of wreaths at the Workers Memorial. This was quite an important service as it was the first time that the service/meeting has been held inside a Cathedral and Bristol were rightly proud to allow this to happen. There were also some important speakers at the service. Amongst those who spoke were Michelle Stanistreet the General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists and Dave Smith the head of the Blacklist Support Group, both very important and high profile figures. Dave Smith is heading up the fight against the illegal practice of Blacklisting. And if you are not sure what is going on there, then I suggest it is worth checking it out. It is something that could affect us all and is very quickly becoming a major major issue. Other speakers included Cannon Tim Higgins, Nigel Cotley of South West TUC, Julia Verne of the Public Service Health Observatory, Farzana Saker from Bristol Multi Faith Forum, Sam Maher from Labour behind the Label and Sally Challoner from BBC Points West.
So in my language it was all about being able to go to work in a safe environment and not one where you go to work in the morning and end the day in a body bag or in hospital. Isnt that a worthy cause???

Swindon Children In Need Steam Museum

OK, so no images on this post and I dont want it to sound like sour grapes or anything but ..

A few weeks ago I applied for a Media Pass for the Children in Need event here in Swindon at the Steam Museum. I am a local Swindon resident, I am a photographer/photojournalist published locally, Nationally and Internationally, published author and have been CRB checked and a member of the NUJ and I couldnt get a media pass. Between the BBC and the Steam Museum they decided that only one photographer would be allowed in and that they would own the copyright to all of those images!!!

Firstly I dont understand the logic of that decision (I will be questioning them on it), but, more importantly, for me and indeed for any aspiring photographer or photojournalist, how does one develop in the industry if, when there are major events like this, one cannot get a media pass?

I know that this is a hard industry to be in, I know that it is who you know and not always what you know, I understand that contacts mean everything but when every opportunity is hit with a brick wall, it’s difficult to know how to get the breaks. I am 57 years old and have a huge amount of experience in the military and the corporate world so not quite so important for me but I feel sorry for young people just starting out in this industry.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and meanwhile I continue to pursue every avenue for future stories and photos.

Pete